Kent Climate Camp: Police Interest Turns To Journalists

Tuesday 5 August 2008: It seven days into the 2008 Camp For Climate Action. It is my second day here and the secret location Press Camp is now up and running, with only a few connection problems.

Following two large riot police raids yesterday and 16 arrests, this morning, as the camp “media hours” commenced, myself and three other journalists were stopped and searched by Metropolitan Police from Wood Green. The police claimed they were looking for items that could be used for “criminal damage”.

One photojournalist was told by officers that “everyone” was being searched, including journalists, because they too were members of the public and could be carrying items that “could” be used for “criminal damage” or “violence”.

In minutes another officer contradicted this, stating not all journalists were being searched. This officer went on – it was down to the discretion of the individual officers as to who would be stopped and searched, mimicking the recent response of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to the NUJ on the issue of police surveillance on lens-based journalists.
Below is a video of the incident, that left these four journalists detained for 40-minutes – 40-minutes out of the time they should have been on the camp taking photos and recording interviews to document this, the latest and largest protest movement against climate change and those corporations considered partly responsible for the causes of global warming.